Imperial Guard Vehicles
This is a list of Imperial Guard Vehicles used by the Imperium of Man's most prevalent fighting force in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. While lacking the more technologically-advanced vehicles available to the elite branches of the Imperium's military such as the Inquisition and the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard does possess the largest selection of ordnance and armoured fighting vehicles amongst all the factions fighting for dominance in the Milky Way Galaxy. Armoured Fighting Vehicles Basilisk The Basilisk is the most common artillery tank used by the Imperial Guard in the 41st Millennium. It is essentially an artillery piece mounted on a stripped-down chassis of a Chimera transport. The Basilisk mounts one of the longest-ranged weapons in the Imperium's arsenal, the Earthshaker Cannon. Basilisks utilise the standard Chimera chassis but replace the passenger compartment and turret with the Earthshaker, leaving it with the hull-mounted Heavy Bolter weapon and driver's compartment. The Basilisk can fire its main weapon directly at an enemy, but this means the Basilisk would have to be close to the enemy which is not good considering it is lightly armoured, instead the Basilisk will stay away from the main fighting and fire its weapon indirectly. The Earthshaker shells are renowned for the powerful shrieking they make during flight, the mere sound of which is often enough to break enemy morale. Additionally, the guns produce a tremendous muzzle report, and it is also mentioned that Earthshaker crews tend to experience hearing loss. Unlike the other artillery units in the Imperial Guard, such as the Bombard, Griffon, and Manticore, the Basilisk is capable of direct as well as indirect fire, giving it a limited ability to defend itself from enemy vehicles and infantry. In the direst of circumstances, Basilisks may be used as secondary battle tanks if given adequate protection. Consequently, Basilisks are often placed at the front of an artillery detachment. Bombard The Bombard mounts a Siege Mortar on a Leman Russ main battle tank chassis. Despite its comparatively short range, it is one of the most powerful artillery pieces in the Imperial Guard. The Bombard is capable of ignoring cover when being used against fortified troops. Its use is rather limited due its short range and lack of direct fire capability; it is primarily used on fortresses after the fortress's occupants are forced inside their walls. The Bombard has no room on board to store its ammunition, and thus it must be loaded from outside the vehicle using its rear-mounted crane. Centaur The Centaur is a light vehicle used to transport men and ammunition or tow light artillery pieces. It is lightly armed with only a single Heavy Stubber, but tends to carry weapons teams and heavy mortars. Although not suited for heavy combat, it is popular with the Death Korps of Krieg. The Centaur saw heavy use during the Siege of Vraks, where thousands of Centaurs were used to transport men and weaponry behind the lines. Chimera The [[Chimera|'Chimera']] is the standard armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the Imperial Guard. It can carry a variety of heavy weapons in its gun turret, such as Heavy Bolters, Heavy Flamers and Multilasers. Other weapons, such as Autocannons can be mounted using special modifications. The Chimera also mounts a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter or Heavy Flamer. The vehicle also has six hull-mounted lasguns on its side sponsons that can be fired from the passenger compartment, allowing the units inside to engage the enemy without first disembarking from the vehicle. As an APC, the vehicle is capable of carrying up to twelve Guardsmen, although some troop types such as Space Marine Terminators and Ogryns take up double the space of a standard human soldier. The Chimera has amphibious capabilities, allowing it to take part in naval assaults. There are three specific close variants of the Chimera named; the Chimedon, Chimerax and Chimerro. The Chimedon replaces the gun turret weapon with a Battlecannon, while the Chimerax has four linked Autocannons in the turret. The Chimerro is a standard pattern Chimera with a Hunter-Killer Missile Launcher mounted on the turret in addition to the Multilaser. The Chimera chassis is the basis for many other Imperial vehicles, including the Basilisk, the Hydra, and the Hellhound. Cyclops The Cyclops is a small remote-controlled tracked demolition vehicle that is just small enough to fit within the passenger space of a standard Chimera or Valkyrie flyer along with its controller. The Cyclops is intended to roll off its parent vehicle and be steered remotely towards its target, at which point it is detonated with devastating force. The Cyclopes can also be dropped behind enemy lines by a Valkyrie and be used to sabotage enemy supplies or command stations. The Cyclops is highly enjoyed by Imperial Guard regiments that use them due to it keeping them from having to perform dangerous jobs that would normally end with a large loss of life. Deathstrike Missile Launcher An Intercontinental-range support weapon, the Deathstrike is no more than a chassis to carry a single ICBM-class Deathstrike Missile mounted on the back of an Imperial Chimera chassis, for which the launcher is named. Deathstrike Missile payloads include Plasma warheads, biological warheads, nuclear warheads, Titan-killer warheads, and the dreaded Vortex Warheads all of which require the authorization of Segmentum Command in order to fire due to the immense amount of destruction they are capable of. Griffon The Griffon is another example of Imperial Guard self-propelled artillery. It carries a Heavy Mortar mounted in place of the passenger compartment on a Chimera chassis. It is shorter ranged and cheaper to field than other Imperial Guard artillery vehicles like the Basilisk or the Manticore. The Griffon is is used to soften up enemy formations before an attack, acting in general as a supporting unit. Gorgon The Gorgon is a super heavy armoured personel carrier capable of transporting 50 Guardsmen (roughly an entire platoon), it has limited fire power for a vehicle of its size, being armed only with 2 twinlinked heavy stubbers and either 4 heavy bolters or 4 Gorgon mortar launchers. The Imperial Guard use the Gorgon for heavy assaults. It is designed for breaching fortified lines and entrenchments, literally smashing its way through opposing defences to unleash its cargo of troops into the heart of the enemy position. Hellhound The Hellhound, based upon the Chimera chassis, is a flame tank. Its main weapon is the Inferno Cannon also called the "Dragon Fire Thrower", which is a large Heavy Flamer that projects streams of burning Promethium at range, making the Hellhound well-suited to close-range support, such as countering enemy melee units that attempt to assault Imperial armoured vehicles and driving dug-in enemies out of cover. It is also armed with a Hull-Mounted Heavy Bolter The Promethium storage is in the form of two large tanks, replacing the passenger area at the vehicle's rear. This makes the tanks, and the vehicle itself, vulnerable to enemy weapons. The crews of Hellhounds are often pyromaniacs, and in addition to being considered insane by other Imperial Guardsmen for their willingness to operate such a dangerous vehicle are often found modifying the components of their Inferno Cannons to produce even greater output. Hellhounds are especially adept at flushing enemy infantry formations out of entrenched positions due to the Inferno Cannon's ability to penetrate most forms of cover. Hydra The Hydra Flak Tank is a self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicle based on the Chimera chassis used by the Imperial Guard to protect its armoured vehicles and infantry formations from attack by the air, it is armed with four long-barreled flak autocannons mounted on a rotating turret that can track its targets automatically. The Hydra is primarily used as an anti-aircraft weapon, although its barrels can be lowered towards the ground to engage enemy infantry and even light vehicles. The vehicle also has advanced targeting systems on board to track enemy aircraft and identify between friend or foe. Land Crawler The Land Crawler is the STC design for a tractor or bulldozer, an all-purpose labor and utility vehicle used for a variety of tasks. The Land Crawler is often said to be the most important discovery made by Arkhan Land, more so than the military-purpose Land Speeder and Land Raider designs. Due to its ubiquity, it has been found modified for military use, as needs dictate. Variants *''Bruennhilde'' The Bruennhilde is a light armoured transporter variant armed only with a single heavy stubber. As it's not very good on the front line, it is usually only used by Planetary Defense Forces. It is usually found at the back of siege lines, towing artillery weapons into place. *''Siegfried'' The Siegfried is a light scout tank developed during the 500-year civil war on Krieg as a replacement for lost Sentinels, and is still found in siege regiments. Like the Sentinel, it is armed primarily with a Multilaser. Leman Russ The Leman Russ Battle Tank, named after Primarch Leman Russ of the Space Wolves, is the main battle tank of the Imperial Guard. The standard armament is a Battle Cannon mounted in the turret and heavy weapons (usually Heavy Bolters) in side sponsons and glacis plate mounting. The Leman Russ battle tank is the most commonly found tank in Imperial Guard regiments. It is a simple design and one that has stood the test of time. Its versatility and relative ease of construction make it the tank most often requested by imperial officers to be attached to their infantry formations. The Leman Russ has thick armour to the front and relatively thick armour to the side however it has quite weak rear armour, it is relatively maneuverable but due to no visible suspension system the ride is assumed to be relatively rough and the tank is renowned for its loud engine, the vehicle is crewed by 5 or 6 people consisting of a Commander, a Primary Gunner, Sponson gunners and a Driver as well as the engine and the inside is uncomfortable, cramped and loud. Variants *'Demolisher' - The common Demolisher variant mounts the heavy but short-ranged "Demolisher cannon". It is often used in city fighting or line breaching where its powerful cannon can be used to best effect. *'Vanquisher' - The rare Vanquisher variant mounts a high-calibre long-range Vanquisher Cannon and co-axial Storm Bolter. It is used for long-ranged anti-vehicle support. It is often armed with a Pintle-mounted Heavy Stubber also. *'Conqueror' - The Conqueror mounts a stub-barreled low-calibre Conqueror Cannon that can be fired with greater accuracy when on the move. This allows the tank to be used in an assault and infantry support capacity. *'Exterminator' - The Exterminator variant carries Twin-linked Autocannons in its turret, and Heavy Bolters in its sponsons. The Exterminator is best suited to anti-infantry work, and has limited anti-air capabilities as well, while it is also faster than the standard. Exterminators are also common tank command vehicles because of their unique weapon systems and defensive capabilities. *'Executioner' - This tank replaces the standard Battle Cannon with a Plasma Destroyer. This is an extraordinarily powerful but temperamental plasma-based weapon which is prone to breakdowns and explosion. *'Annihilator' - This pattern includes Twin-linked Lascannons in place of the battle cannon, much like the Space Marine Predator "Annihilator" variant. *'Mars/Alpha pattern' - Less a weapons difference (As with all the above variants) and more a cosmetic change, Mars/Alpha pattern Leman Russ tanks feature an increased interior capacity; for this reason, they are favoured as command tanks. *'Eradicator' - A simple, destructive vehicle, its main weapon, the Eradicator Nova Cannon, gained a fearsome reputation as a weapon capable of flattening barricades, infantry, and even light vehicles, with a highly volatile sub-atomic charge. Easily produced and maintained, it is a weapon of choice for any commander fighting in dense terrain. *'Punisher' - The Punisher variant of the Leman Russ is the most potent anti-infantry vehicle in the Imperial Guard, and among the best anti-infantry vehicles in the galaxy. Armed with the multi-barrel Punisher Gatling Cannon, the Punisher can shred even the heaviest of infantry units with punitive ease. However, the Punisher can be outmatched by enemy tanks in a head-to-head fight, and commonly works with other Leman Russ tanks to make up for the loss of anti-tank firepower. Manticore The Manticore is a guided missile launcher; a Chimera chassis carrying four powerful Storm Eagle Missiles. A variety of warheads are often used for a wider range of effects. Its rate of fire is half that of a Basilisk and it does not have the direct-fire capability. It can also be used as a self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon, firing anti-aircraft missiles. Medusa The Medusa is a self-propelled gun like the Basilisk and also built on the Chimera chassis, but with a larger-bore and shorter-barrelled gun known as the Medusa Siege Gun. Functioning as an assault gun rather than long-range artillery, it is also commonly deployed in sieges. The Medusa is named after its main weapon. Ragnarok Like the Siegfried, the Ragnarok heavy tank was developed in the Krieg Rebellion out of necessity. It was designed solely to crush the enemy through the sheer weight of numbers. Simpler and more lightly armed than the Leman Russ, the Ragnarok is armed only with a Battle Cannon and a pair of Heavy Stubbers. It is still often used by Siege Regiments such as the Baran Siegemasters or the Vostroyan siege administrate, who refer to it as the "Mk. I Mobile Bunker". Salamander Also based on the Chimera chassis, the Salamander is an open-topped, lightly armoured scout vehicle armed with an Autocannon and a hull-mounted Heavy Bolter. A command variant of the Salamander is armed with a Heavy Flamer. The vehicle is significantly faster than most Imperial Guard vehicles, and many crews further modify the engines and transmission of the vehicle against regulations to allow additional bursts of speed. However, most commanders overlook the breach of regulations due to the dangerous nature of the missions that Salamander crews must undertake. The Salamander is also often used by artillery company forward observers. The open top provides better visibility when spotting and relaying targets. Sentinel A lightweight Imperial combat walker, Sentinels are often fielded in squadrons as scouts or flank support. They can carry a variety of heavy weapons and bring high levels of power and maneuverability together in one place. They are lightly armoured, however, and are susceptible to small arms fire. Sentinel pilots are often loners and outcasts, and are frequently considered to be on the borderline of insolence by Imperial Guard officers. There are multiple Sentinel variants, and each variant deploys a different combination of primary weapon and level of pilot protection. The most commonly used variants are: * Mars Pattern - This Sentinel is armed with a Multilaser and is effective against infantry and lightly armoured vehicles. * Cadian Pattern - This Sentinel is armed with an Autocannon and is effective against heavy infantry and armoured vehicles. * Elysian Pattern - This Sentinel is armed with a Multi-melta (effective against all vehicles) or a Heavy Bolter for use against infantry. It has been modified to fit inside a Valkyrie gunship and is fitted with anti-grav chutes, so it can be air-dropped into combat alongside ground troops. * Catachan Pattern - This Sentinel is armed with a Heavy Flamer and Chainblade for use in jungles and is effective for both clearing a path as well as a fire support weapon against dug-in infantrymen. The Catachan pattern Sentinel is also generally camouflaged using a jungle scheme. * Armageddon Pattern - This Sentinel is armed with a Lascannon and is a suprisingly effective anti-tank weapon. The cockpit of the Armageddon Pattern Sentinel is also usually fully enclosed with armour plate. This pattern of Sentinel is the one featured in the Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War series of PC games. * Tallarn Pattern - This Sentinel is armed with a Multilaser. It has larger feet than normal for better balance on the loose sand of the Desert Worlds it is usually deployed on. The Sentinel chassis is also the technological foundation for many Imperial service and ultility vehicles,which are often equipped with "power lifters" to transport supplies and to aid in the resupply of other vehicles. Power lifters are not intended for combat use but they can be used as improvised close combat weapons. On top of these there are Support Sentinels armed with rocket and missile launchers for long-ranged fire support but these patterns are rare. Stormsword Role: Urban warfare specialist tank, with Assault Gun capability Details: A reconfiguration of the Shadowsword, designed for and only deployed in urban environments. Stormswords are all counterfeit variants, as they are all salvaged from wrecked Shadowswords (hence the similar designs). Trojan The Trojan is an ubiquitous Imperial support vehicle, serving behind the front lines to reload heavier tanks and tow fixed artillery emplacements into position. The Trojan appears to be based on the World War II-era Munitions Panzer. Atlas The Atlas is an armoured recovery tank based on the Leman Russ Battle Tank chassis. It is designed to recovery disabled or destroyed vehicles and tow them back to friendly lines for repairs. The Atlas is a stripped down Leman Russ tank with no turret, weakened armour and a supercharged engine to enable it to move weights in excess of 60 tonnes. Three or more Atlases are needed to tow a super heavy tank. Usually all of the Atlases are grouped together under the control of the regimental commander, although not all regiments make use of them. Those that do, almost always find their services in need. During battles they are held in reserve until a call comes through for one of them to brave the battlefield and rescue a vehicle. It has a large crane and rear spade to allow it to lift the heavy weight without toppling over backwards. Often Atlases are accompanied by Trojans which can tow large flatbed trailers to put damaged vehicles on to be moved to the workshops. Often an Atlas crew is trained well enough to repair a vehicle on the spot and they are often followed by a Tech-priest Enginseer to properly bless and consecrate the vehicle. Destroyed vehicles will be investigated for salvage, and once their Machine Spirit have been set free to return to the Emperor they are left to rust away in peace. Stormblade Weaponry: Plasma Blastgun with co-axial heavy bolter, two turreted lascannons, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters. Role: Tank Destroyer/Titan-hunter Details: One of the many 'counterfeit' Shadowsword variants, all of them replacing the Volcano Cannon with some other Scout Titan weapon. Though less powerful and having a shorter range, the Plasma Blastgun is cheaper and consumes less energy than the Volcano Cannon, making the Stormblade more easily produced. Stormhammer Weaponry: Twin turrets with two Battle Cannons each and no Demolisher Cannon OR Single turret with two Battle Cannons and Demolisher Cannons, eight sponson-mounted heavy bolters, and sometimes four turreted lascannons. Role: Extreme firepower Details: The reason for the odd weaponry loadout listed above is due to the fact that it varies depending on what source material is being referred to. That being said, the Stormhammer is perhaps the rarest of all Baneblade variants both in the in-game universe and real-life. It was initially described as an urban combat vehicle with equal armour all-round, and bears at least some superficial resemblance to interwar tank designs with multiple turreted weapons such as the Soviet T-35, T-100, T-28, the German Neubaufahrzeug, and the UK A9/Cruiser Mk I or the Vickers A1E1 Independent Tanks. The two-gunned single turret configuration is also somewhat reminiscent to the Mammoth Tank of the Command & Conquer series. Unlike the others, this is the only variant not converted into 40K scale by Forge World, and it is not currently sold for Epic scale either. However there does exist one scratch built Stormhammer, featured on the US GW website. Hellhammer Weaponry: Turret mounted "Hellhammer" cannon, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy flamers, two turret mounted Lascannon, one hull mounted demolisher cannon and a hull mounted twin-linked heavy bolter. Role: Close-in firepower. Details: The Hellhammer cannon is a longer ranged and even more deadly version of the Demolisher bunker-buster which ignores cover as well as all known types of physical armour. Combined with the other (relatively) short ranged weaponry on the Hellhammer, it becomes an excellent city-fighting vehicle, capable of clearing buildings and bunkers with equal ease, though its shorter range compared to that of the basic Baneblade would leave it vulnerable on an open battlefield. Banehammer Weaponry: Tremor cannon, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters, two turret mounted Lascannon, and a hull mounted twin-linked heavy bolter. Role: Details: The Banehammer is a super heavy tank thats specialises in slowing an enemy from advancing swiftly enough to reach Imperial lines before sufficent damage can be given by Imperial Troops. The Banehammer also has a modest Transport Capacity and thus a more flexible battlefield role. Doomhammer Weaponry: Magma cannon, two sponson-mounted twin-linked heavy bolters, two turret mounted Lascannon, and a hull mounted twin-linked heavy bolter. Role: Short Ranged Titan Hunter Details: Developed during the Siege of Ordana, the Doomhammer is a retrofitted Banehammer, exchanging an anti-infantry role for a Titan Killing role. Although Shorter Ranged than the Shadowsword, the Magma Cannon can still marshal a Titan Killing blast. And the space saved due to the smaller number of capacitors allows the Doomhammer a modest transport capacity. Gorgon The Gorgon is a superheavy, amphibious, open-topped, armoured assault transport; roughly the same size as the standard Baneblade chassis. The Gorgon is designed to smash its way through most things with an extremely armoured front prow. This protects the tank and cargo from frontal attack, and is also used to form an assault ramp, allowing infantry deployment in the middle of enemy positions. The Gorgon bears a pair of twin-linked Heavy Stubber turrets at the rear that can cover the front and sides, as well as a pair of sponsons that may carry Heavy Stubbers/Bolters/Flamers; there is also a variant that exchanges the sponson weaponry for single-shot mortars. Macharius The Macharius tank is a super-heavy battle tank used by the Imperial Guard, most notably the Death Korps of Krieg. Developed from the same hull as the Gorgon (in much the same way as the Chimera and Basilisk share a hull), the Macharius is smaller and lighter than the more common Baneblade, but it is becoming increasingly common as it is easier to produce quickly in quantity. The design was originally discovered as a partial fragment in the archives of Lucius Forgeworld by one Magos Nalax who painstakingly reconstructed the original design using the materials available to him. There are several variations on the Macharius, principally distinguished by their main armament. :*The basic Macharius mounts twin Battle Cannons in its main turret, supplemented by a hull-mounted twin-linked Heavy Stubber and sponson-mounted Heavy Stubbers, which may be replaced by Heavy Flamers or Heavy Bolters. :*The Macharius Vanquisher variant replaces the twin battle cannons with twin Vanquisher cannons, which can optionally use the armour-piercing vanquisher shell instead of the standard high explosive version. :*The Macharius Vulcan variant replaces the twin Battle Cannons with a single Vulcan Mega Bolter, a weapon more commonly found on Titans, to give the tank truly devastating anti-infantry power at close range. Malcador An ancient tank design perhaps even older than the Leman Russ, the Malcador is a huge, heavy and lumbering war machine intended to smash through enemy lines and batter through fortified defences with brute force. The Malcador effectively works as a mobile fortress, its upper works either mounting a battle cannon or twin-linked lascannon with a limited arc of fire, or 5 heavy bolters, which spread around the upper works present an effective 360o arc of fire, its hull either mounts a heavy stubber or lascannon when mounting a battle cannon in the upperworks, or if it is the heavy bolter or lascannon variant a powerful demolisher cannon for smashing enemy fortifications. It also mounts either lascannons or heavy bolters in side sponsons. It can be loosely compared to the German WWI A7V. However it is relatively uncommon and has been superseded by superior vehicles and hence only finds use in more specialised regiments such as the Death Korps of Krieg as a fortification clearer or as a battle tank in PDF regiments. It is named after Malcador the Sigillite, one of The Emperor's advisers during the Battles of Unification, and the man credited with founding the Administratum of Terra. Leviathan The Leviathan Command Vehicle is a massive mobile fortress commonly used as a mobile command center. The Leviathan was built on a massive vehicle chassis produced by the Squat Homeworlds -- the same as that used for the Squat Colossus and Cyclops. With the extinction of the vast majority of the Squat race following the consumption of their homeworlds by the Tyranids, it it has become extremely rare in Imperial forces. Its main weapon is the Doomsday Cannon or "Macro Cannon." The discharge from these guns is said to be clearly audible from several miles away and the recoil can be felt at similar distances. Miscellaneous Vehicles Burrowers In early versions of Epic burrowing vehicles were introduced. Hellbore The Hellbore Heavy Mole is a super-large burrowing vehicle capable of carrying many units of troops safely underground into enemy positions at which point they disembark for close assault. It is equipped with multilaunchers and heavy bolters. Mole The Mole is an intermediate size burrowing vehicle. Termite Termite is the smallest of the burrowing vehicles. It can carry only a squad or so of troops into combat. Sources *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (3rd Edition) *''Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000'' (PC Game) *''Dawn of War - Winter Assault'' *''White Dwarf'' 189 (UK) "Imperial Griffon", pp. 29-33 *''White Dwarf'' 189 (UK) "GW and Citadel News", p. 3 *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (3rd Edition) *''Souldrinkers'' Omnibus * Codex: Imperial Guard (4th Edition) *''Codex: Space Marines'' (4th Edition) *''Codex: Chaos Space Marines'' (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex) *''Codex: Catachans'' (3rd Edition) *''Imperial Armour Volume One - Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy'' *''Codex: Daemonhunters'' (3rd Edition) *''Codex: Witchhunters'' (3rd Edition) *''Codex: Black Templars'' (4th Edition) *''Codex: Imperial Guard'' (2nd Edition) *''Codex: Blood Angels'' (3rd Edition) See also *Vehicles of the Imperium Category:I Category:Imperial Guard Category:Imperial Guard Equipment Category:Imperial Vehicles